Mumbai: Drunk man attacks constable with sharp weapon, arrested

A 25-year-old police constable was attacked by a drunk passenger in Thane on the wee hours of Saturday.

A 25-year-old police constable was attacked by a drunk passenger in Thane on the wee hours of Saturday.

Dutta Pisal, posted with the Thane Commissionerate, was patrolling near Thane railway station with a beat marshal. Both of them stopped at a nakabandi near the Thane railway station when a saw an autorickshaw approaching. The police waved, gesturing it to stop.

“But, he drove past the nakabandi. Pisal chased the auto and after running 100 metres caught hold of the driver. The passenger, Swapnil Belekar, 30, started abusing Pisal,” said Mandar Dharmadhikari, senior police inspector from Thane Nagar police station.

When Belekar refused stop the verbal abuse, the police asked the autorickshaw driver to park the vehicle on the road side.

“Belekar then took out a sharp weapon and attacked Pisal. Hearing him scream, the other policemen rushed to his rescue. Pisal was taken to hospital. Belekar was arrested and sent to hospital for medical test,” added Dharmadhikari. In the confusion, the auto driver escaped.

In hospital, Belekar again became aggressive and refused to undergo a medical examination. He threatened the policemen against arresting him. He also started banging his head on the wall. “The medical test reveals that Belekar was under heavy influence of alcohol. His family was alerted and we looked for the sharp weapon on the spot, but have found nothing”, said Dharmadhikari.

Belekar does odd jobs and is a resident of Thane. He was arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.